Category: Life

Almost 3 months…..

~ Des

Writing this while watching my first bake in the first-ever use of a gas oven! I am baking Oopsies…. Cream cheese and egg type muffins… The thing that I can’t work out is there is no light to say when the temperature set has been achieved! But they are rising and slowly going brown. 10 more minutes and I will let you know if I was successful.

Today was also snake day! Yes, a Karoo Sand snake (Whip Snake) struck and ate an unsuspecting gecko – almost under my foot. It is harmless and skinny, and it could have been its first meal after hibernating for winter! About 800mm long it was interesting to watch the head of the unsuspecting gecko disappear and then the bolus progress along the snake’s body. This small town has a resident snake catcher, who’s name I had been given, together with the plumber and electrician in case of such an event and being that I had totally no idea at that stage what kind of snake it was I called Athol, he arrived within minutes and in spite of us “knowing” where it went, we could not find it! So, for now, he lives somewhere adjacent to my garage, or he escaped while he could! Since then I have had a few more Karoo Sand snakes in the garden, they move so fast, are harmless and I just let them be:)

It seems like summer is arriving early there have been some hot days already.
I always wondered what it would feel like not to go to work…. something I have done since I was seventeen, everyday like clockwork. There have of course been some holidays, but work has taken up most of my life and mostly I loved it.
I have slipped into this new life with such ease. No alarm clock, just early morning light or an unfamiliar bird call wakes me from a restful uninterrupted sleep. Ready to face another new day with no expectation. When you are doing something new each day there is a sense of achievement, even if it is just unpacking boxes and sorting. Every time I venture out into the veld, I am assured of something new, something never seen before. There is no rush, no drama, no stress, just new opportunities and new views.
So, these first three months are good. I’m finding my way around and finding me:)

First Snow!

~ Des

It snows on the Swartberg range most winters! In Africa, until now I have only seen it from a distance, and once on Table Mountain. I traded my sunrise walk with an early departure from home up the Swartberg Pass this morning and am I glad I did:) Only about 10kms from my front door, I rounded a corner and there it was –  a gentle sprinkling on the Bain’s built wall of the steep and winding road…for an African born in tropics, this is a special sight, unusual, unexpected and such a joy! By the time I got to the Tierberg lay-by, there was even more!untitled-20-07-19-IMG_20190720_074702-2-183

21 days

~ Des

I can’t believe 3 weeks have magically evolved into what is my new life…. I have been asked if I’m settled yet, no settling needed, I feel like I belong here, no drama, no trauma, no adjusting, no feeling uncomfortable, no effort, no frustration……I just fit! Round peg round hole. I’ve been thinking about what I love the most….

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Prince Albert waking!

My new old home
Fixing, cleaning, arranging
Gardening in my big wild ‘desert-like’ garden
My front stoep and my back stoep
A quick walk from my home into the veld
Dirt roads, windmills and abandoned buildings all around me
Space
Quiet
Slowness
Simplicity
Having 2 sinks in the kitchen!
Feeling safe
Walking everywhere I need to go if I want
The raw milk dairy
Lamb chops and game meat
Local produce
Smiling, friendly, helpful people
Real people at the end of the commercial phone line
Old fashioned efficiency
A sense of calm and contentment
Time to learn about me.

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A lovely starting point for my morning walks :)

My days start with a dawn outing every day. A walk/run usually involving the Robert Gordon Trail. About 3 or 4 kms. I explore different starting points and routes and experience the waking village from above.

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Sunrise with the dairy in the valley and the Swartberg range on the right

I’ve learned to dress for the crisp mornings, I am now a beanie person!  On two occasions I have seen a pair of Grey Rhebok, white tails distinctive as they sprinted away from me on the ridge.  A pair of large owls cooing to each other and many yet unknown birds greeting the day. That freshly brewed coffee on the front stoep when I return is just the best, followed by chores, good chores…. hanging pictures, erecting shelves, cleaning, collecting my post, gardening, feeding the birds, cooking lunch, and enjoying it slowly in the sun on the back stoep……emails and internet at still 2mbps! OMG, who even offered that speed…. This is the only frustrating thing…. and it is not really that frustrating…….I just need to adjust my mindset a little more….I am in no rush!

I have met quite a few locals and my neighbours, all of whom are genuinely nice. I have handed in some of my art to the local gallery, joined the library and made friends with some people who work at the Dairy.

Anytime I want I can ‘escape’ and drive into the Swartberg Pass, play in the river, photograph, explore, walk in the veld, and examine strange and interesting plants and stones, chase sunsets, cycle in the late afternoon, read, or watch a downloaded movie  – then I am asleep in my incredibly inviting bed for the next 8 or 9 hours. That’s my new life:) It’s called living:)

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Finding water in the Karoo is such a joy:)
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On my bike going somewhere slowly;)

Oh and one BIG negative … a big (they are all big, ugly and creepy by my standards) unlucky spider (I am a serious arachnophobe!! ) nearly (within millimetres!! ) fell on my head . OMG! when I opened the back door!!  He plopped onto the floor and died instantly under the sole of my hastily removed shoe. His carcass, (spread out on the tiles over 30 cms, such was the force of the blow) remained there for a few hours until I got up the courage to remove it and I was left unsettled for the whole rest of the day!!!!  I have not opened any door normally since. It is going to happen again (and when it does you will hear about it) but until I will remain hyper vigilant! (paranoid)

Drought…..

~ Des

I escaped the cleaning, the boxes, and the furniture arranging and ventured out for a few hours:) The 4-year drought continues, and it is obvious all around me. The village itself has a lei water system, using water channeled from the mountains along a series of canals to private homes and public spaces. So, some of the village has lush green manicured lawns and gardens and the others, like mine, have none! I will in due course become a water harvester. Today I have water tank being installed and later I will learn how to harvest water from the road above my property so that when it does rain, I will conserve and preserve as much of the runoff as possible. (more about this idea later🫣)

I traveled along a dusty farm road and came upon two completely empty dams – pans – that have clearly in times past, been full and sustained their own microenvironment. Things used to flourish and or survive, but now all there is is death and decay! So incredibly sad. Hopefully, this year the drought will break!

5 days in….

~ Des

A last-minute change of schedule by the moving company forced me to leave the city a night ahead of schedule. I arrived at my new home at 8pm in the dark! What that did, was disallow me 24 hours in which to stay in my empty apartment and mull and contemplate leaving the city and my home of the last 18 years. I was gone before I knew it! It was a good thing.

I made my way into the empty house, found the mains switch unpacked my few belongings, ‘camped’ in the spare room – and surprisingly, slept very well. These weeks running up to my departure date have been a bit hectic!

With nothing to do in the morning, I left before sunrise up to the walking trail behind my home to watch the new day dawn on my new town and my new life:) It was beautiful!

There is one early morning coffee shop in the village, and I was greeted there with an excellent coffee and a roaring fire in the hearth on a very chilly morning:) It is winter here. I chatted to the waitress and later another customer who comes from 80 kms away so her young daughter can go to playschool twice a week! I walked home and shortly after arriving, the entire contents of my life arrived in a large moving truck and trailer…. And so, the fun began! In the last month or two, I have done not much else besides pack boxes and boxes and more boxes! And now I am doing not much else besides unpacking boxes and boxes and boxes.  So much cardboard and plastic…. But all going to recycling on Friday:)

David, my ‘inherited’ gardener has been, the honeysucker has been (sucks out the sewerage from a septic tank!) The gas man has connected my new gas stove and I have been to the one supermarket to buy some supplies. No traffic, free parking right outside the places I need to go. Friendly smiling faces. Children walking home from school, and a general feeling of calm and happiness:)

I have not cleaned so much ever before….

I am settling in well, going slowly and enjoying every minute. Each morning I am out at dawn and greet the sunrise – walking or cycling in a quiet, still, barren, beautiful landscape feeling happy and safe:) I am going to love it here:)

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The beacon on the walking trail at dawn
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Looking west
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My regular trail running path:)
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Walking the Labyrinth at dawn:)